The Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens

Greece › Athens › Museums › Byzantine and Christian Museum
Updated: August 15, 2022
By Santorini Dave

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Large room with hanging displays of Byzantine icons

The impressive collection at the Byzantine and Christian Museum, located in central Athens.

Tickets: Purchase at museum.

Founded in 1914, the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens is home to the largest collection of Byzantine art ranging from 3rd to 21st centuries. Housed within a beautiful 1848 Florentine-style palace, displays are arranged over a couple of levels and cover many centuries of art and culture. The museum’s permanent collection features rare and well-preserved 13th-Century icons – including a mosaic of the Virgin Mary from Constantinople, scriptures, mosaics and frescoes, good currency coins, and various other artifacts that give visitors a good sense of the scope, influence, and legacy of the Byzantine Empire.

The permanent collection is housed in the building to the left of the main building, in which temporary exhibitions are displayed (behind the ticket desk). The museum is worth a visit not only for its well-curated collection, but also for the onsite Ilissia café/restaurant, museum gift shop, and beautiful gardens. Located nextdoor to the Athens War Museum, about 900 meters east of Syntagma Square and a 300-meter walk from the closest metro station, Evangelismos.

Byzantine and Christian Museum Hours and Information

  • Hours: 8am – 8pm Sunday to Monday, 1pm to 8pm Tuesday (15th June-31st August). Closed Tuesdays from September to mid-June. Closed January 1, March 25, Orthodox Easter, May 1, December 25 & 26.
  • Website: byzantinemuseum.gr
  • Location: Leof. Vasilissis Sofias 22
  • Telephone: +30 213 213 9517
  • Admission Fee: 4€ November through March, 8€ April through October. A package ticket is available for 15€, valid for 3 days, that includes entrance to the National Archaeological Museum, Byzantine & Christian Museum, Numismatic Museum, and Epigraphical Museum.
  • Free Entry: March 6, April 18, May 18, the last weekend of September, October 28, and the first Sunday of each month from November 1st until March 31st.
  • Parking: Street parking, nearby pay lots.
  • Nearest Metro: Evangelismos

Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum

Mediterranean-style building with arched doorways and a red tiled roof with a cypress tree in front

The Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens is located not far from Syntagma Square.

Two adjacent Mediterranean-style buildings in a red gravel courtyard

Its collection is displayed over two buildings in a peaceful courtyard…

Courtyard with a rose garden, looking out to a stately white pillared building

…with views to the stately Athens Armed Forces Officers Club.

Artwork and artifacts displayed on different floors, connected by small stairways

Exhibits are spread between multiple levels, and contain items like rare 13th-Century icons, scriptures, mosaics and frescoes, good currency coins, and more.

Marble statues displayed in a museum

Ancient clay oil lamps displayed in a museum case

Ancient clay vessels with Bzyantine seals

Clay and bronze artifacts on display in a museum case

Ancent marble pillars displayed next to mosaic artwork

Ancient stone mosaic fragments

Marble sculpture fragment hanging in a museum

Marble pillars in a museum display

Display of ancient currency coins on a museum wall

Byzantine icon hanging in a museum

Fresco fragments displayed on a museum wall

Fragments of an old marble altar decoration

Room displaying Byzantine icons and religious marble fragments

Display of Byzantine icons in a museum

Museum display of a wall covered in religious frescoes

A woman looks up at an ancient fresco in a museum room

Fragment of an old religious fresco

Clay bowls on display in a museum

Religious icon of a saint with a staff

Ancient book with a metal clasp

Byzantine painting of an angel holding a staff

Byzantine books and artwork displayed in a museum

Shop with reproduction icons and artifacts

Gift shop at the Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum.

Tables set up beneath tents in an outdoor courtyard

Ilissia indoor-outdoor cafe.

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About Santorini Dave

Santorini Dave Author Bio. Santorini Dave was started in 2011 by a guy who loved Greece, travel, and great hotels. We're now a small team of writers and researchers on a mission to deliver the most helpful travel content on the internet. We specialize in Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, and Greece and recommend the best hotels, best neighborhoods, and best family hotels in top destinations around the world. We also make hotel maps and travel videos. I can be contacted at dave@santorinidave.com.